Add An Extra Layer Of Flavor To Beef Wellington With Prosciutto

Partially thanks to Chef Gordon Ramsay, the beef Wellington has become one of the most recognized dishes by name. This British dish combines rare beef filet, savory duxelle, and a butter puff pastry into one decadent dish. While the traditional beef Wellington already contains a multitude of flavors, layers, and steps, one additional layer can bring a salty flavor punch to your dish. Proscuitto is a very thinly sliced, salt-cured ham. Adding a layer of prosciutto to a beef Wellington brings in a delightful salty component, reminiscent of bacon and can create more depth of flavor in your dish.

In addition to being delicious, prosciutto can also serve a technical benefit in your beef Wellington. When you add a layer of prosciutto to your dish, it acts as a moisture barrier between your puff pastry and other ingredients. The prosciutto works to keep any excess moisture released from your onion and mushroom layer contained and keeps excess juice from your beef contained. This results in a perfectly flaky crust with no soggy bottoms, and a wonderfully moist interior.

A prosciutto layer should come after your duxelle layer. One of the easiest ways to incorporate this layer is using plastic wrap to effectively layer and wrap your Wellington. You can create a sheet of prosciutto on top of plastic wrap. When creating the prosciutto layer you'll want it to be the width of your beef, and about three times as long so you'll have enough to wrap around. When you spread your duxelle layer, aim to spread it as evenly as possible — think of it almost as if you're painting on your duxelle layer. The nice thing about prosciutto is that it's incredibly thin, so it easily sticks to other surfaces, meaning you're not adding too much complication to an already complicated recipe.

The prosciutto won't add any additional cooking time to your dish. You can use any brand of prosciutto for this layer as well. Something you'll want to be mindful of if you do choose to use prosciutto is that you don't oversalt your beef Wellington. The prosciutto will provide plenty of salty flavor and the other ingredients will work to balance this out.